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Countries Where Religion is Most (and Least) Important

Guess the top 12 and bottom 12 countries according to the % of the population that reported religion was "not important in their daily lives."
green rows correspond to countries where religion was important
blue rows correspond to countries where religion was not important
Quiz by kalbahamut
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Last updated: September 7, 2018
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First submittedJanuary 25, 2013
Times taken3,713
Average score41.7%
Rating2.08
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"Religion Not Important"
GDP/capita
literacy
homicides
Country/Territory
0%
$399
29%
3.8/100k
Niger
0%
$767
57%
2.7
Bangladesh
0.5%
$23,572
81%
0.7
Oman
1%
$3,512
90%
8.1
Indonesia
1%
$3,084
56%
1.4
Morocco
1.5%
$217
67%
21.7
Congo
1.5%
$347
75%
18
Malawi
1.5%
$2,880
91%
3.6
Sri Lanka
1.5%
$156
38%
1.5
Somalia
1.5%
$1,185
58%
14.7
Mauritania
1.5%
$1,467
68%
3.4
Djibouti
1.5%
$486
35%
14.9
Sierra Leone
83%
$57,638
99%
1.0/100k
Sweden
80.5%
$59,709
99%
0.9
Denmark
78%
$97,607
100%
0.6
Norway
78%
$16,568
99.8%
5.2
Estonia
75.5%
$34,259
93.5%
0.2
Hong Kong
75%
$45,870
99%
0.4
Japan
74.5%
$20,436
99%
1.7
Czech Republic
73%
$38,811
99%
1.2
United Kingdom
70%
$48,783
100%
2.2
Finland
69.5%
$44,007
100%
1.1
France
69.5%
$1,374
94%
1.6
Vietnam
67.5%
$66,371
99%
1.0
Australia
Ozchris
+9
Level 33
Feb 16, 2013
Good quiz... but, err... how is Vatican City not in the list? Those cheaters! ;)
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 16, 2013
haha... good question. I went to look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country

and apparently Vatican City was not among those countries that were polled.

However... I actually suspect that if they DID conduct the same survey there, there may indeed be more than 1.5% who say that religion is not important in their lives. I mean the next highest in Europe was Romania where 84% reported that religion was important. I think even bishops have doubts.

Ozchris
+3
Level 33
Mar 16, 2013
But the question was whether it was important. If I lived in Vatican City and I was asked that question I'd say that religion was important in my life... cos it would be (it'd probably be my job)... even though I'm 100% atheist. Also, I know Poland has the highest church attendance rates in Europe... so strange not to see them on the list. Though not disputing your stats of course.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Mar 17, 2013
well... as I pointed out... even though some European countries are more religious than others (certainly, Poland and Romania are far more religious than Sweden), none of them even came close to the countries at the very top of the list. If it were included, the Vatican would no doubt be #1 in Europe but I'm still not confident that 98.5% would report that religion was important in their lives. I definitely see your point, though.
FastBBBB
+1
Level 17
Dec 17, 2013
The vatican city is a small purely roman catholic house almost. Everyone there is in some way connected to the pope - in fact everyone there is either clergy or representative of state. How would 12 approx. people not be catholic or class religion as unimportant
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Dec 18, 2013
The population of Vatican City is over 800 people. The question asked in this survey was not whether or not the respondent was religious, or whether or not they were Catholic, it was whether or not religion was important in their daily lives. All it would take for the Vatican to not appear in the top 12 would be for 12 people living there (out of the 800) to answer "no" to this question. There are many Catholics who are only nominally religious these days, particularly in Western Europe. They keep the label Catholic but are in fact agnostic or atheist and really just are sticking with the ritual, or going to church out of habit, or for some at the Vatican because it is their job. They may very well consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives if day-to-day they are more concerned with other things. I actually think the current pope fits this bill. Though he is only 1/800th of the total population at the Vatican. Not everyone there is a cardinal.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Dec 18, 2013
That said, while it is conceivable that 98.5% of residents in the Vatican, from the pope on down to the maids and toilet cleaners who bunk there and may or may not give a crap about Catholicism, would have answered the question in the affirmative; and I conceded as much already; it's irrelevant to the above quiz as, as already mentioned, the Vatican is not included in the data.
Remster
+1
Level 77
May 1, 2013
I wonder what the homicide rate would be.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
May 2, 2013
For the Vatican? I'm pretty sure it's zero. There are so few people living there, and most of them are clergy. If anyone ever was murdered it would probably be news. I look at the Vatican more like a corporate headquarters than a real country. Murder would be unlikely there.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Apr 4, 2014
haha... well that's a good point. But John Paul I conspiracies aside... that was a long time ago.
Bonzo007
+4
Level 66
May 25, 2017
Dan Brown reported multiple Vatican homicides in Angels and Demons. Must be true.
Gaia
+1
Level 41
Feb 20, 2013
Interesting quiz! But what about India? It is a very religious country.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Feb 20, 2013
17% of the people polled in India said that religion was not important in their daily lives, placing them right around the middle of the pack. Actually, they are closer to the "not important" end of the spectrum than the "important" end. Though I can definitely see an argument for how religion plays a more important role in India than most places because of the divisions it has caused there... the criteria for this quiz was based on only one thing and that was how people responded to the question: "Is religion important in your daily life?" Those polled could answer just "yes" or "no," and there was no adjustment made for people who said it was extremely important or extremely unimportant.
JackBeNimble
+5
Level 81
Feb 8, 2019
Many, or even most, people don't realise how strong atheism is in India. When I donated to the tsunami relief efforts, I did so through a major atheist organisation.
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
Feb 20, 2013
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh both make the list.
Ozchris
+5
Level 33
Mar 16, 2013
Also great to see Australia 'winning' this quiz! That's more like it Kal! Now I just want to see cricket mentioned in every one of your quizzes. lol
kalbahamut
+3
Level 82
Mar 18, 2013
I think you've misunderstood the point of some of my comments. Anyway... I wish the US was on this list but sadly they are somewhere around the middle. If Australia is really trying to win this race, then I cry sabotage. You sent us Rupert Murdoch and Ken Ham, and even conspired with the kiwis to send over Ray Comfort. Not fair. Keep it up and we're going to ship you Pat Robertson.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Nov 11, 2013
Comfort is nuts, for sure, but he doesn't seem as dangerous to me as the other two. Robertson is just as unhinged if not moreso, and he has a much bigger following I think. and O'Reilly, though he is probably the most reasonable personality left on Faux News these days sadly enough, has almost complete control over what information does or does not get to upwards of 3 million Americans, or about 2% of Americans eligible to vote. Enough to swing an election. Murdoch, though behind the scenes, is far more powerful than all 3.
sensfan123
+1
Level 22
Jun 9, 2013
Good quiz. But what does homicide have to do with it?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Jun 9, 2013
well... maybe something. maybe nothing. You could choose to look at it one of two ways. Either a) as somewhat irrelevant to the topic of the quiz but still a hint to help you guess the answer, which is true enough. or b) if you want to try and connect it with the answers: as evidence against the common claim that people who are less religious are somehow less moral, more violent, less blessed, or whatever. The data does not support such a claim.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Jun 11, 2013
It's interesting to me that high levels of prosperity, high human development, high levels of education and literacy, low levels of crime and violence and poverty and homicide are all positively correlated with irreligiosity, and inversely correlated with religiosity. The stats are there to spark conversation about this, because it's not clear if there is a causal relationship and if there is, which direction causality flows. It's also not a perfect correlation. For example, Vietnam is a very irreligious place without much prosperity, but its people are still highly literate and rates of violent crime are low. Oman is a very religious place with low levels of crime and relatively high GDP, but it's literacy rate is poor compared to similarly affluent countries. But if you look at averages then the difference is very stark. I just think things like this are interesting. Perhaps this is a better answer than what I said before.
PorcNBeanz
+2
Level 57
Aug 9, 2013
Something is to be said, in general, for the comparison of the economies and overall quality of life in the countries at either extreme of a non-ecomic survey.
joriseatsgherkin
+1
Level 15
Aug 13, 2013
No Saudi Arabia or Israel as well? Dodgy sources, Kal.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 82
Aug 14, 2013
What are you basing these assumptions on? According to the source, which seems perfectly reliable to me, 94.5% of those surveyed in Saudi Arabia said that religion was important in their lives. I live in Saudi Arabia and that seems about right to me. On the one hand, religion is behind most of the many prohibitive social restrictions in place in the country that everyone is very aware of; on the other hand Saudi Arabia is a pretty culturally homogenous place- what outsiders may see as the mark of religion many Saudis just see as the way things are. There is also not much religious conflict there aside from a few small pockets of shiite unrest in the east which is always quickly and thoroughly put down when it comes up. Perhaps more importantly, Saudi Arabia is a relatively affluent country. People there learn how to read and write, they go to school, they have access to the internet, and they live comfortable lives.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Aug 14, 2013
.. so their placement on the list in relation to other countries that are severely impoverished, largely illiterate, and where religious civil wars are currently being waged is really not at all surprising.

Israel is interesting. Only 49.5% of Israelis report that religion is important in their lives. Less than the United States. But the fact of the matter is the majority of Israelis are not religious, particularly the Jewish population of the country which is largely Jewish by ethnicity but not by religion. And while to some (including myself) it might be clear that all of the problems in Israel spring from religion, a lot of people reject that and insist that the religions are irrelevant and the problems are actually caused by politics, racism, colonialism or something else. A lot of Israelis feel this way. Anyway thanks for the comment.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Apr 4, 2014
Inadequate resources, poverty, racial/ethnic/territorial tensions, politics, greed... of course these things always contribute. But I do think religion is at the root.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 1, 2018
Secular, yes. But self-hating? You have to be religious in order to accept your Jewish heritage? I would argue the opposite. Why do you feel that wanting to create a Jewish homeland to protect ethnic Jews from future Holocaust, giving them a safe place to live where they can be in control of their own destiny, is about hating Jews? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Gyrenaica
+1
Level 35
Feb 3, 2014
NO north KOrea!?!
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 3, 2014
Data was not collected there. I imagine due to the difficulty in getting permission to do any polling of North Korean citizens.
Carry
+1
Level 63
Mar 18, 2014
Africa always comes short in my answers. Poor Africa.
sharonRA
+1
Level 58
Feb 4, 2015
this might be in previous comments, but what is your source for this information? I'd like to see the study. Interesting correlations
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 4, 2015
Here you go.
bomber184
+2
Level 20
Feb 9, 2015
Lol, I only got 3 correct on my first try and beat 16.5% of the test takers. I got all of them correct eventually. Great quiz, kalbahamut. Of course, all of your quizzes are great.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 9, 2015
Thanks. You might like my quizzes even more than I do.
Skamps
+1
Level 41
Oct 19, 2015
Strange. The countries with the highest crime rates, lowest GDP rates, lowest literacy rates and most corrupt and backwards governments tend to have the highest percentage of people who think that religion is important. Who knew!
englishsystem
+1
Level 68
Dec 8, 2015
22/24, missed Bangladesh (d'oh!) and Malawi. Wonderful quiz with relevant data fields.
comjag
+1
Level 90
Dec 20, 2015
Not a bad quiz. But if there are countries who weren't polled when the data was being assembled it is incumbent upon the maker to note which countries these are in the notes at the top of the quiz.

The second half of the table needs to reverse its order. That way when the entire table is taken as a whole, you will have a linear progression from religion most important to religion least important countries.

Cedo
+1
Level 40
Jan 23, 2016
Surprised Iceland is not among the blue ones, considering the current news.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 67
Jan 10, 2019
Had a very tough time finding the "religous"countries. Tried most of the middle east, some african countries, and the ones I hear about being very catholic. But ended up with only morocco bangladesh and indonesia hah. Thought I would have a much harder time with the blue side, but got all but estonia and czechia.

It is quite a subjectve thing though. When asked if something is important to you, one might say it is, while it is only a small part of their lifes, while others might say it isnt, but it might be their entire life. Like when scoring if something is "great"someone might only call something great when they d score it a 9 or a 10, for others anything above 7 is great.

But still interesting quiz.

JackBeNimble
+1
Level 81
Feb 8, 2019
@kalbahamut I was really looking forward to taking this quiz, but couldn't because of my deteriorating eyesight. Is there any way you could change the font color to white on the dark backgrounds? The contrast is simply too low for me to read the text.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Feb 8, 2019
This was one of my earliest attempts at making a quiz and I agree the color scheme is pretty hideous. If I ever get around to it I will, but, probably not... busy these days
benjaminmarker
+1
Level 71
Oct 25, 2020
So happy I was born in Scandinavia!
Hampus
+1
Level 57
Nov 26, 2020
Interesting to see how Vietnam and Oman stands out, on opposite sides.
CS
+1
Level 66
Mar 6, 2021
Hong Kong is not a country.
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Mar 6, 2021
thanks
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